Alive (1993 film)
| starring = | director = Frank Marshall| | producer = | cinematography = Peter James | editing = | music = James Newton Howard | studio = Touchstone Pictures Paramount Pictures The Kennedy/Marshall Company | distributor = * United International Pictures }} | released = | runtime = 120 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $32 million | gross = $36.7 million }} 'Alive' is a 1993 American biographical survival drama film based on Piers Paul Read's 1974 book ''Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which details a Uruguayan rugby team's crash aboard Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 into the Andes mountains on Friday, October 13, 1972. Filmed on location in the Purcell Mountains in British Columbia, the film was directed by Frank Marshall, written by John Patrick Shanley, and narrated by John Malkovich. It features an ensemble cast including Ethan Hawke, Josh Hamilton, Vincent Spano, Bruce Ramsay, John Haymes Newton, Illeana Douglas, and Danny Nucci. One of the survivors, Nando Parrado (portrayed by Hawke in the film), served as the technical advisor for the film. Plot The film opens with a group of photographs of the Stella Maris College's Old Christians Rugby Team. Carlitos Páez points out several members of the team and reflects on the accident in a brief monologue. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 flies over the Andes on October 13, 1972. The raucous rugby players and a few of their relatives and friends are eagerly looking forward to an upcoming match in Chile. Upon emerging from clouds, the plane encounters turbulence and collides with a mountain. The wings and tail are separated from the fuselage, which slides down a mountain slope before coming to a stop. Six passengers and one flight attendant are ejected from the plane and die. Antonio, the team captain, coordinates efforts to help the injured. Roberto Canessa and Gustavo Zerbino, both medical students, aid the injured. Another six passengers soon die, including both pilots and Nando's mother, Eugenia. Nando, who sustained a head injury, falls into a coma, and his sister Susana has suffered harsh internal injuries. As the sun sets, the survivors make preparations for the night. Canessa discovers that the seat covers can be unzipped and used as blankets. The survivors go inside the fuselage and curl up beside one another to stay warm. Antonio, Roy Harley, and Rafael Cano plug the gaping hole at the end of the fuselage with luggage to keep out the wind. Two passengers die overnight. With nothing to hunt or gather on the mountain, Antonio declares they will use rationing when the survivors find a tin of chocolates and a case of wine. After seeing a plane fly past, they think it dips its wing, and the survivors celebrate. Expecting to be rescued the next day, everyone except Javier, his wife Liliana, and Antonio eat the remaining chocolates. This causes a quarrel among Antonio and several others. Nando regains consciousness. After learning of his mother's death, Nando watches over Susana vigilantly. Knowing she will die of her injuries within a few days, he vows to set off on foot and find a way out of the mountains. When Carlitos reminds him that he will need food, Nando suggests eating the flesh of the deceased pilots to give him the strength to survive the journey to find help. Susana dies from her injuries. The survivors listen to a radio for word of their rescue but are devastated to hear the search called off after nine days. After great debate, the starving passengers decide to eat the flesh of their dead relatives and friends. Zerbino, Rafael, and Juan Martino set off to search for the tail of the plane in hopes of finding batteries for the plane's radio to transmit their location. Among pieces of the wreckage, the teammates find additional corpses, but return to the group with news that the tail of the plane is likely a little farther away. Later in the week, an avalanche strikes the plane and fills much of the interior with snow. Eight of the survivors are smothered by the snow or freeze to death. A second team, made up of Nando, Canessa, and Antonio "Tintin" Vizintin, sets out and find the tail of the plane. Unable to bring the batteries to the fuselage, they return to the fuselage to get Roy, who is thought to have experience with electrical equipment. They bring him to the tail of the plane to see whether he can fix the radio. When Roy is unsuccessful, the team returns to the fuselage. Federico and Alberto die from their injuries, as does Rafael, leading Nando to convince a reluctant Canessa to search for a way out of the mountains, taking Tintin with them. Two days into the journey, they send Tintin back to the fuselage so they can appropriate his rations and continue on their own. After a 12-day trek, the two escape the mountains and alert the authorities of their companions' location. As helicopters land on the mountain, the remaining 14 survivors celebrate. In the present, Carlitos describes how the survivors later returned to the site of the crash and buried the corpses under a pile of stones, marked with a cross. The memorial to the 29 deceased and 16 survivors is shown. Cast The names of the people who died in the disaster were changed for the film. There were three key exceptions: Eugenia and Susana Parrado (Nando Parrado's mother and sister, respectively), and Liliana Methol (Javier Methol's wife). Survivors * Ethan Hawke as Nando Parrado * Josh Hamilton as Roberto Canessa * John Haymes Newton as Antonio "Tintin" Vizintin * Bruce Ramsay as Carlitos Páez ** John Malkovich as older Carlitos Páez/Narrator (uncredited) * David Kriegel as Gustavo Zerbino * Jack Noseworthy as Roberto "Bobby" Francois * Kevin Breznahan as Roy Harley * David Cubitt as Adolfo "Fito" Strauch * Gian DiDonna as Eduardo Strauch * John Cassini as Daniel Fernández * Richard Ian Cox as Ramón "Moncho" Sabella * Nuno Antunes as Álvaro Mangino * Gordon Currie as José Luis "Coche" Inciarte * Sam Behrens as Javier Methol * Michael Tayles as Alfredo Delgado * Steven Shayler as José Pedro Algorta Deceased * Michael Sicoly as the Pilot (Col. Julio César Ferradas) * Jerry Wasserman as the Co-Pilot (Lt. Colonel Dante Lagurara) * Tony Morelli as the Navigator (Lt. Ramón Martínez) * José Zúñiga as the Mechanic (Sgt. Carlos "Fraga" Roque) * Frank Pellegrino as the Steward (Sgt. Ovidio Joaquín Ramírez) * Illeana Douglas as Liliana Methol * Ele Keats as Susana Parrado * Jan D'Arcy as Eugenia Parrado * Danny Nucci as Hugo Díaz (based on Diego Storm) * Vincent Spano as Antonio Balbi (based on Marcelo Pérez) * Michael DeLorenzo as Rafael Cano (based on Numa Turcatti) * Josh Lucas as Felipe Restano (based on Francisco Abal) * Chad Willett as Pablo Montero (based on Enrique Platero) * Michael Woolson as Juan Martino (based on Daniel Maspons) * Diana Barrington as Mrs. Alfonsín (based on Graciela Mariani) * Christian Meoli as Federico Aranda (based on Rafael Echavarren) * Jake Carpenter as Alberto Antuna (based on Arturo Nogueira) * Silvio Pollio as Álex Morales (based on Fernándo Vázquez) * Jason Gaffney as Victor Bolarich (based on Gustavo Nicolich) * Seth James Arnett as Tomás Alonso (based on Carlos Valeta) * Aurelio Dinunzio as Dr. Solana (based on Dr. Francisco Nicola) * Fiona Roeske as Mrs. Solana (based on Esther Nicola) Reception Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 62% of 26 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.1/10. David Ansen of Newsweek said that, while, "Piers Paul Read's acclaimed book ... paid special attention to the social structure that evolved among the group ... Marshall ... downplays the fascinating sociological details—and the ambiguities of character—in favor of action, heroism and a vague religiosity that's sprinkled over the story like powdered sugar." Others, such as Ray Green, praised the tactful nature of the film stating that, "despite the potential for lurid sensationalism, Marshall manages to keep his and the film's dignity by steering an effectively downbeat course through some grim goings on thanks in no small manner to the almost allegorical ring of Shanley's stylized dialogue."Green, Ray. "Alive." Box Office (March 1993). Green continues by describing the film as, "thrilling and engrossing as it is at times, Alive is more than an action film—in its own way it is also a drama of ideas, and of the human spirit as well." Roger Ebert wrote "There are some stories you simply can't tell. The story of the Andes survivors may be one of them." He also questioned the realism of how normal the actors' bodies looked after portraying two months of near starvation. Inaccuracies The survivors knew that rescue was imminent before the helicopters came because they heard it on the radio they had crafted. In the film they are surprised by the helicopters' arrival. Documentary A companion documentary, Alive: 20 Years Later, was released at the same time as the film. It includes interviews with the survivors, as well as documentary footage of the rescue. The 30th Anniversary Edition of Alive: The Miracle of the Andes (on DVD) includes this documentary in the Extras section. Related media * I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash * Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home * Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains * ''Survive!'' (film) See also * Survival film, about the film genre, with a list of related films References External links * * * * Category:1972 Andes flight disaster Category:1993 films Category:1990s disaster films Category:1990s drama films Category:American disaster films Category:American biographical drama films Category:American films Category:American survival films Category:Disaster films based on actual events Category:Docudramas Category:Drama films based on actual events Category:English-language films Category:Film scores by James Newton Howard Category:Films about aviation accidents or incidents Category:Films about death Category:Films based on non-fiction books Category:Films directed by Frank Marshall Category:Films produced by Kathleen Kennedy Category:Films set in 1972 Category:Films set in Chile Category:Mountaineering films Category:Paramount Pictures films Category:Rugby union films Category:Films with screenplays by John Patrick Shanley Category:The Kennedy/Marshall Company films Category:Touchstone Pictures films Category:Works about cannibalism